Barbara Sehr has a steady algorithm that dances to a different aerial density. OK, she's a funny technical writer who brings out her recently diminished profile, her artificial intelligence, and her native German sense of humor. Despite all that, she is not only funny — she is the only known journalist to interview Bill Gates as both a male and female reporter. Visit her Web site: www.liftingthefog.com

In Congress: A Declaration of Independence from the “violence of poverty.”

WASHINGTON, DC — At 9 AM EDT, Tuesday, in the halls of Congress, on the final day of my mission for ENDA, I take a stand against the “violence of poverty.” The phrase comes from Mara Kiesling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) here in Washington, DC. She has the unenviable task of coordinating a group of us who will assault the Great Sausage Factory with the faces of the few, the proud, and the frequently unemployable.

I am here to tell my own story about a shattered career that began when I rose to a respected position as a writer, columnist and editor at a national computer magazine when the personal computer roared on to the scene in 1981. I fell to an equally quick decline after I brazenly announced that my software no longer fit my hardware.

In the years after my 1989 surgery, I have been forced to accept menial jobs – including driving a taxi. I have experienced a year of homelessness, after I lost every resource I had – including having no health insurance when I fell and broke my right arm and a knee in a single fall. I have since recovered some of what I lost, but I have never been able to match the income I had in 1984. Even the salary I had in 1984 would not restore me to a living wage today.

I am not alone in this path, I am surrounded here in the nation’s capitol by people who share my plight, several of whom have fallen to greater depth. Suicide is an occupational hazard in this life. Fortunately, it was a road I did not take, even when it seemed the most positive alternative. Fortunately, I had a few good friends remaining. I was able to recover, found a splendid antidepressant called stand-up comedy, and have entered a positive course toward the future. Life, once again is on an upturn.

Questioning gender identity is a draft, not a voluntary enlistment. The American Psychiatric Association is convinced no sane person would consider the price of entry. For me, the cost began after I started my first job search after surgery. The experience was far different from my previous job change. Job offers came at me by the dozens when I was one of the few who could write about personal computers in English. I didn’t even have to ask. Now, the offers no longer came, and I had to experience rounds of interviews, followed by a routine end to my quest… “we found someone slightly more qualified.” Of course there were other more qualified candidates available. Still, it seemed like all the more qualified candidates were after the same jobs for which I was overqualified.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act could change all this for future generations. Sure, the military, religious organizations, and small business would be exempt. Sure, banning discrimination will not bring an end to discrimination. Yet, Congress needs to know how much it hurts to be a trans person. It needs to make a statement that it cares.

In 1965, Congress made a vocal statement regarding Jim Crow laws in the South. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 took some time to reduce the sting of discrimination against racial minorities. The current President of the United States never had to experience the hate projected at his father.
Congress needs to get with the spirit of this new administration. “A few years ago, we had an administration that would just say ‘Eeeek’ whenever they heard the word Trans,” Kiesling recalled. “This administration may not move fast enough for us, but at least they say how we can we make it work.”